


a night in

by helsinkibaby



Category: NCIS
Genre: Community: comment_fic, F/M, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-25 15:25:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16663384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: Time was, after a hard case,  Nick would be out painting the town red. Times change.





	a night in

**Author's Note:**

> Theme : WAFFs  
> Prompt : Any, any, a warm, fuzzy blanket, something warm to drink, and a good book/movie/TV show.  
> https://comment-fic.livejournal.com/954660.html?thread=109552676#t109552676

Nick can’t help but smile as he approaches Ellie, his eyes roaming over her body and taking in every inch of her. They’ve hung out plenty of times over the last couple of years on and off the clock so he’s seen her dressed up and dressed down and everything in between. But since their relationship took a turn for the intimate a few weeks ago, he’s been seeing a whole new side to her. 

Like now for example. 

They’ve just finished a monster case so they’re enjoying a night in where they’re almost certain Gibbs won’t interrupt them. Nick’s in sweatpants and a hoodie, while Ellie is in sweatpants and a flannel shirt and there’s a t-shirt peeking out from between the undone buttons that he’s fairly sure belongs to him. Her hair is thrown up haphazardly in a messy bun that’s going to be no work at all for him to pull down and she’s curled up on her couch, knees up to her chin, fuzzy blanket over them, fathoms deep in the book she’s been trying to finish for the last couple of weeks. She’s so lost in the pages that he gets the impression that she’s almost forgotten he’s there. 

He’s ok with that if it means he gets to see her like this. Ellie doesn’t let many people in and the fact that he’s one of them - maybe, and this is definitely ego speaking, the most important one - means more to him than he’d ever have thought possible. 

Except that while looking is nice, touching is better. 

So he closes the distance between them with the words, “Budge up,” and Ellie looks up with a grin at his surprising choice of words. The grin softens into a smile when she sees - and sniffs - the two steaming mugs he carries. Her eyes are bright with surprise as she turns the book the opposite way around to rest on her knees. “You made hot chocolate?” 

“Even got the little marshmallows.” Because she’s mentioned it earlier and he’d stopped at the store on his way over just to make sure he had everything he needed, hidden it in his overnight bag to surprise her. He hands her mug down to her, keeps a hold of it until he’s sure she has it securely. If his fingers brush against hers in the action, well, he’s not going to complain. She doesn’t move though, so he tilts his head to the side. “C’mon, scooch up.” 

Ellie narrows her eyes slightly but she’s still smiling when, for once, she does as she’s told. When the space in the corner is wide enough for him to sit in, he drops down into it, carefully because he knows Ellie will kill him if he gets hot chocolate on her couch. Holding his drink in his right hand, he settles his left around her shoulder, helps arrange her so that her back is pressing against his side. She wiggles a little, bringing their bodies into closer contact and he can’t help but hide a smile in the top of her head. 

They sit in silence like that for a moment before she speaks. “You want to watch something?” 

He shrugs with the shoulder she’s not resting against. “You read,” he says and if he cranes his neck just right he can see the smile of relief on her lips. She really wants to finish that book. “There’s a soccer match on ESPN... you mind if I turn it on with the sound down?” 

“Go for it.” She goes back to her book then, sounding utterly content and there’s not an ounce of tension in her body as she turns her book around and takes a sip of her drink. 

Grinning, Nick grabs the remote control and finds the channel, keeping the sound down so as not to distract her. His fingers reaching up to play with her hair might distract her too, but he can’t stop himself doing that so he doesn’t bother to try. 

When she actually purrs, he figures she’s ok with it too. 

Time was, after wrapping up a bad case like this, he’d have been out for the night, dressed up and painting the town red. If you’d have told him that one day he’d prefer a night like this, he’d have told you that you were crazy. 

He’s never been so happy to be wrong.


End file.
